Moke raised his head and stared at everything in shock.
--The billowing gray-black smoke roiled upward, containing deep-red and golden flames.
Not far ahead of him, the Silver and Tin Palace began spraying vast amounts of dust and smoke inward from its center. The entire building gradually fractured and collapsed.
Even the building reinforced by the Preserver had no power to resist. The entire structure seemed to be chewed and devoured by some monster, creaking harshly as it curled inward and caved in bit by bit amid the trembling ground.
The strange monocle Moke wore, resembling a microscope, automatically rotated and extended, bringing him an entirely new field of vision. He saw heat spreading throughout the entire building, like soil tightly clutched by the roots of a plant. Not far away, a gigantic humanoid figure so scorching that Moke dared not look directly at it even through layer upon layer of walls was slowly standing up.
It was slowly absorbing the entire Silver and Tin Palace, growing larger and larger at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Its bones were earth and stone, and its flesh was raging fire.
A lava giant sculpted from molten metal and rock continued growing larger as the inward-contracting flames constantly supplied it with the surrounding "materials."
--That was a Flame Demon!
Moke was actually very familiar with the two Antimony powerhouses who had appeared onscreen during the story's introduction. They were both acquaintances of his.
One of them was his mentor at the Spirit Tower; the other was a senior he had a fairly good relationship with, Lieutenant General Leo Karl. Not long ago, he had entered the same advancement ritual as him and even caused him to lose a leg.
Although Moke was not a Demon Scholar, his intense curiosity had once